


Ikigai

by GuyOfShy



Series: Scatterings of White Roses and Sightings of Bumblebees [33]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Bumblebee/by - Freeform, Comfort, Dressing wounds, F/F, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 04:53:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11775918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuyOfShy/pseuds/GuyOfShy
Summary: Blake and Yang patch each other up again after a rough mission. Aura and bandages were enough to heal in time, but a little love always went a long way. As well as some really strong, really cold medicine.





	Ikigai

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kuchenjaeger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuchenjaeger/gifts).



“Ow!”

Yang’s shoulder jerked forward out of Blake’s gentle hold.

“Sorry Yang.”

She waited a beat for her pain to fade, then started spreading the reliever over the scratches of Yang’s arm again; an ice-cold, viscous gel whose chill only irritated the blonde’s cuts further. Blake didn’t rub as deeply this time, instead opting to let it soak in slowly even though it meant subjecting Yang to the cruelly cold touch longer. She moved up her arm, cresting onto her shoulder, pausing when she flinched.

“Jeez this stuff is cold.”

“I know, but I don’t want to hurt you again. Just a little longer.”

Yang’s broad shoulders rose and fell with a heavy breath. Blake carefully traced her palm up to the worst of the wound where the gash was deepest. Yang’s Aura combined with multiple coats of medicine had already restored it to a bright pink, almost matching the tone of her skin again, though it still dipped in a little. Luckily Yang had just enough Aura to block most of the strike. Blake saw it happen after just finishing off the Beowulf she had confronted, and watched Yang stagger under the mighty blow of the Ursa Major’s claw. She didn’t yell or scream when it stopped on her shoulder; Blake was afraid that she had passed out on the spot, but it was only a moment before Yang’s hair practically exploded. Much like the Grimm after her resulting punch from her prosthetic fist. Only then did Yang allow herself to fall. She stumbled one step back and collapsed onto her butt while clenching her shoulder. By the time Blake had made it to her side blood had soaked the shoulder of her jacket, and her eyes had already cooled back to their natural lavender color, though she closed them to breathe.

“Blake?”

Yang’s lavender eyes were watching.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Blake sputtered while quickly removing her hand. She wondered how long she had let Yang suffer under that cold gel, not as if it could be a bad thing to let it soak longer. She gingerly spun thick bandages over her shoulder and under her armpit. “There.”

Yang used her good arm - her mechanical one - to pull the sleeve of her tank top back over her shoulder.

“Does that feel okay?” Blake asked.

“I mean, it still hurts. A lot. But yeah, I think I’ll be able to sleep easily now. Especially with my kitten still by my side,” Yang hummed, smiling at her.

“We’re not done yet,” Blake reminded her, pushing her the back of her hand against the top of Yang’s back and leaning her against the countertop. She lifted her shirt up, observing the multiple yet milder scrapes and bruises marring her lower back. They were barely noticeable now: her Aura had almost finished healing them on its own, but if she was feeling any kind of pain from them still Blake wanted to put the medicine on.

It really was a miracle invention. It was recent - only a few months fully developed - but received resounding praise the world over. It naturally enhanced the passive healing factor of Aura in the area it was applied to, as well as chilling said area to draw the Aura’s attention to it. The only drawback so far was that it didn’t work as well in combat or any other physically demanding situation: the chilling part did not last for long so as to avoid actually chilling the affected area too much, so if the body heated from excess exertion, that effect would easily wear off. Yang needed a lot to be slathered on to keep that effect active, thanks to how naturally she radiated heat from within her. Blake felt it warming her hand already.

“How badly would you say these hurt?”

“Mildly uncomfortable?”

That didn’t answer Blake’s question.

“Would you be comfortable with me hugging you if I touched these?”

“Probably not,” Yang more confidently said.

For the sake of a more soothing sleep, Blake lathered her hands with more of the ice-cold gel.

“Ready?”

“Mhmm. Ooh, it’s way colder there.”

“Hold still.”

Yang obeyed while Blake applied a quick layer, but still bounced on her toes as the chill crept up her spine and around her sides. Blake silently wished that these light injuries were on Yang’s stomach instead, such that she might be granted the privilege of caressing the blonde’s sculpted abs without having to ask first. For whatever reason she found it embarrassing.

But she backtracked to her wish. What a selfish thought. She wished Yang hadn’t been injured at all, of course. She was honestly surprised Yang had been injured this much. Her partner had attributed it to still learning how to fight with her new arm and loss of half of Ember Celica. It had also been weeks since their last mission, and it had been months since Yang had last fought Grimm. Blake could only imagine how much they reminded her of Adam and the mask he wore.

“Don't you think that’s enough Blake?”

Blake lifted her hand away.

“I’m sorry Yang. I keep losing focus.” Blake ensured she covered every wound adequately and lowered Yang’s shirt back down. Yang straightened back up, grimacing when she felt her clothes sticking to the cold solution on her back.

“Ugh… you don’t think they need bandages?”

“No. Your Aura’s almost taken care of them. They might even be healed by the time we wake up. But for now, I think we’ll have to switch sides on the bed. You shouldn’t lay on that shoulder.”

“Yeah, good point. But first, how’s your leg doing?”

“It’s not that bad anymore.”

Blake wasn’t sure why she answered, or lied, for that matter. She was already in her robe with her lower legs clearly visible, and Yang was already squatting to take a closer look, and already eyeing Blake curiously.

“I wouldn’t say ‘not that bad,’ but it’s definitely not good.”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“Really? Well, we’ll see about that when we switch sides in bed and you’re sleeping on it.”

Yang crossed her arms and crossed stares with Blake, but grimaced when a shot of pain jolted up her shoulder from pulling it too far over during the movement. Blake rolled her eyes and handed her the bottle of medicine. Yang happily took it and squirted a bit into her left hand while Blake crossed her own arms and stared into the mirror.

“Although it’s awfully sweet of you, you don’t need to act strong for me Blake. I’ll be fine in a few days. Here comes the cold!”

“Just do it alread- oh, you were not kidding about the temperature.”

Blake audibly shivered. She balled her fists to draw her attention from the liquid frostbite on her skin and to refrain from jumping around. She distracted herself by watching Yang work in the mirror, gently rubbing on her leg, holding the roll of bandages down with her wrist since her hand was covered with medicine, ripping a shred free and wrapping it snugly around her leg.

Blake was trying to act mature. Nobody, no matter how tough, could resist flinching at the subzero temperature of that gel on their skin. No matter how tough, she couldn’t pretend her own wounds didn’t hurt. But she didn’t want Yang trying to do the same when hers were worse.

“I’m trying to act mature for you,” Blake said as Yang stood up next to her. Through the mirror they stared at each other. “Just look at the bandages on your shoulder, not to mention the scratches on your back, compared to mine. You can’t even use that arm right now. I just want to take care of you Yang.”

She looked at Yang’s calm, cool lavender eyes directly, passing the bandages and her mechanical arm on the way. Yang lifted it, and clenched her fist with a big, confident grin.

“Hey, I’ve had to go without an arm before. I gotta hand it to you, it wasn’t easy, but that just means this’ll be no problem for me.”

“Shut up Yang,” Blake chuckled. She smiled and pushed her away with her forearm, since her hands were still coated with medicine. She stepped forward to the sink to wash her hands off and Yang joined her to wash hers, still wearing a big grin. “I can’t believe you’re willing to make jokes about that.”

“Well… it still gets to me sometimes. But I don’t let it get the better of me. If I was depressed about it all the time, like I used to be, then I wouldn’t be acting mature for you Blake.”

Blake wasn’t expecting such a serious disclosure to follow her pun. She silently dried her hands, wondering just how often Yang put on that glowing, sun-like smile just for her.

“You don’t need to. That’s why I’m here, to keep you company and comfort you when you need it. Try not to forget that, okay?”

Blake tried a tender smile, and was happy to see Yang receive it with one of her own, but it only continued to grow on the blonde’s face.

“And that’s why I’m here, to bandage you up when you try to act tough and say your leg doesn’t hurt.”

“Fine. My leg still hurts. Maybe you should kiss it to make it feel better.”

“Fat chance! No way am I putting my lips to that liquid nitrogen gel. But I’ll gladly kiss your lips, if it’ll make you feel better.”

“It would.”

Blake wondered how anyone could deny a smile like that; one warm enough to power the sun, if it ever came to it. Blake returned it as best she could and met Yang’s lips. Each kiss was small, intimately compassionate, but Blake pressed a long, lasting sweetness on her while her hands sought out the narrow space between the sensitive regions of Yang’s shoulder and back, breaking away and leaning into a hug. Blake felt Yang’s metallic hand gently rubbing her head, scratching her ears in the process and cradling her closer to her chest.

“Well? Feeling better yet Blakey?”

“Only if you are.”

Yang could have echoed her answer - that was what she wanted to do - but more than that she wanted to make Blake happy tonight. No, in this very moment, standing in the bathroom with her after healing each other’s wounds.

“Yeah. I’m happy Blake.”

“Then I’m happy too.”

“You know what would make me happier though?”

Over Yang’s shoulder, Blake saw a metallic thumb jabbing back to their bedroom. Blake sighed and withdrew from their embrace, hands falling to Yang’s hips, to chide her with a disappointed, though slightly amused look.

“Seriously, Yang? I don’t think either of us are physically up to that right now.”

“‘Seriously Blake?’ I was gonna say that you and me should hop in bed together, but you misconstrued it even earlier than that. Are you trying to tell me something?”

The Faunus rolled her eyes and exchanged Yang’s hips for her hand.

“I’ll tell you that I agree with you and we should get in bed to get some rest,” she said while leading her girlfriend out of the bathroom. Yang flicked the lights off as she passed through.

Already Blake’s leg started to feel better, even as she walked on it. That medicine really was a miracle.

The two walked across the hall and into their bedroom, with Blake stepping around to the left side this time while Yang climbed in on the right. The brunette had an easier time moving to the middle, so she closed the gap between her and the blonde rather than making her crawl over. She pulled the pillow further over to compensate.

“Do you feel okay?”

“Yep! For the most part.”

Blake accepted that as her go-ahead signal, and carefully laid an arm around Yang’s torso, letting her hand fall in that slender section of Yang’s back that wouldn’t hurt when she touched it. Yang didn’t flinch; another go-ahead. Blake then slipped her arm under Yang to complete her hug. Yang moved moved to do the same but stopped on her approach.

“Well this sucks.”

“What?”

“We’re on opposite sides now. The whole reason I sleep on that side and face you is so I can hug you without making you lay on my mechanical arm.” She frowned at Blake, who found it cute how distressed she was about this. She appreciated how dedicated Yang was about making sure she slept comfortably.

Blake sat up and pulled Yang’s arm under the pillow, then laid down again on her back rather than her side. She turned slightly into Yang and nuzzled her head further under her chin, breathing her sweet lavender scent, embracing the warm waves her body drew in from Yang’s.

“Does this work?”

She hoped Yang answered positively. Already she was comfortable holding onto her and didn’t want to let go.

“Yeah. A lot better. But are you fine like this?”

“I love it,” Blake said, closing her eyes.

They settled silently together after that. Just the air conditioning humming and the fan quietly whirring above them, and their silent breathing.

“Goodnight Yang.”

“Night Blake. Thanks for wrapping me up again.”

“Thank you for bandaging my leg.”

“No problem.”

Blake leaned in to kiss her, opening her eyes to find she was perfectly leveled with her clavicle. A perfect place for kisses. Only when she pulled back did she notice how close she had cradled herself to Yang’s chest and how generously her cleavage was revealed by her shirt.

“You sure you’re okay Blake? You’re getting awfully warm.”

“I’m fine. It’s your fault, you know, for being so warm.”

Blake could live with herself for telling a half-truth. She was warm, thanks to Yang’s natural radiance, but couldn’t control her blush at the sight of Yang’s natural assets either.

Blake quickly shut that suggestive section of her thoughts off and closed her eyes again. But as she tried to let go and drift off, she could only think about how sleeping in this position wasn’t so bad after all. It was nice to be the one holding Yang for once instead of the other way around.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, hope you liked it Kuchenjaeger… _sweats nervously_
> 
> I was partial to using Ikigai for the title. I really really like the concept of Ikigai, and wanted to save it for something pretty heavy or serious, but since being Huntresses are what these two want to do and they love and take care of each other, I decided it fit well enough here. A bit of a struggle between their duty, the resulting risk of going out on dangerous missions, and reaffirming their love for one another afterwards.
> 
> Ugh, I’ve forgotten how to do Bumbleby dialogue. It’s been a while. I’m not particularly worried about anything else, but if you have any criticism or suggestions I’d love to hear them! (Especially you Kuchen!)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a nice day :)
> 
> (Thanks for pointing out the typo Kuchenjaeger. And thanks to The-Board-Chairman for looking over this for me even though you're on vacation and don't have your computer! You rock!)


End file.
